|
Article by Brian Willis.
|
|
|
 |
|
Jim Sloan of Omagh |
|
Jim Sloan In
the 1970's Omagh man Jim Sloan used to be a 'Sligger
man'. That was the nickname the Kinawley locals
gave to the folk who used to hunt for freshwater
pearls in their nearby Cladagh river. |
Introduced
He was first introduced to this fascinating hobby by
his old fishing colleague Eddie Chesters, now sadly
deceased, and together they would go off for the day
to Kinawley in County Fermanagh to search for these
illusive beautiful objects.
The freshwater pearl is grown inside a mussel and is
probably the result of some foreign object, perhaps
a grain of sand, getting inside the shell which the
mussel then shifts to one end and covers with layers
of pearl substance.
|
|
|
 |
Jim Sloan (Lt.) and the late Eddie Chesters
1984 photo taken by Jackie Sloan |
|
Tools of the trade
How did Jim and Eddie go about finding these
pearls? "All you needed was a home-made wooden
box about nine inches square, with a sheet of
glass set into the bottom. (They are holding
these boxes in this photograph.) You held
this on the surface of the river to look at the
sandy floor and this simple device stopped the
reflections on the ripples."
But how did they actually pick up the mussels?
Jim told me that Eddie used a cleft stick but
Jim preferred to just use his hands. That's one
of the mussels on the end of Eddie's stick. |
|
|
|
 |
|
Jim's sister Kathleen's pearl ring |
|
Graduation ring
Apparently there was very little money to be
made from this hobby and Jim Sloan gave away most
of the pearls he found to friends and relatives.
One of the nicest pearls he discovered however,
he set into a ring and gave to his sister Kathleen,
on the occasion of her graduation. |
Looking for the perfect one.
So why bother looking for pearls if not for profit?
"They are lovely objects and it was always a great day
out in the countryside" explained Jim "Sometimes the
children would come with us too and we would picnic
beside the river. Also it was addictive". I suggested
a bit like the buzz the old gold prospectors got. He
agreed and said that once started, it was hard to stop
looking for that elusive "big " one.
|
|
|
 |
Some of the
freshwater pearls
collected by Jim Sloan |
|
The end of collecting
However, gradually the pickings began to dwindle,
probably because of pollution. Then the death
knell for the Sligger men came when fishing for
freshwater pearls became illegal and the mussels
declared an endangered species. (Caught pearl
fishing in the rivers of Hungary or Sweden and
you'll end up in gaol!) |
The Strule
I asked Jim why did they bother to travel the 35 miles
or so to Kinawley for pearls when the River Strule in
Omagh was renowned for them? He explained there have
not been mussels in the Strule for many years, again
because of pollution, but also because of the extensive
dredging of that river.
So another tradition and countryside pastime disappears
into the history books, and 'Sligger men' are destined
to live on only in web pages.
|
|
|
 |
|
Banbridge crest showing mussels on shield.
|
|
Banbridge footnote
Freshwater pearls also used to be gathered from
the river Bann near Banbridge, County Down, and
the Council crest of Banbridge District Council
commemorates this fact with a depiction of mussels
either side of the shuttle and spindle on the
green section. |
Special thanks to the staff of Omagh Library
for their help with this article |
YOUR RESPONSES
Stacey Smith - May '05
My father had a great interest and through this secured a
£70,000 grant for improving the waters so that pearls
(these seeds were planted on dolligans gills and the they
would fall to the river bed) could be planted in the river
bann the money was given to the angling clubs in banbridge
and clonduff for the water ways in the areas from spelga right
to river bann and beyond to cultivate these pearls.
Unfortunately my father died on 28th May 04, aged just 51
and right up until he died he was working tirelessly to secure
long term funding from local government so that the work could
continue and that the river would once again be inhabited
by these pearls, and generally be enhanced. He fought for
his life for 9 months, but just 2 weeks prior to his death
the funding for the ongoing work was secured. The project
is called 'The Desi Smyth Pearl Mussell Project.' One day
prior to his death he received the pearl of greatest price.
Stacey's father Desi working at a bridge
|
|
|
print version
POST
A COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE